


Safehouse

by thepizzasitter



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Aftercare, Age Difference, Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bottom Nezu | Piers, Class Differences, Coitus Interruptus, Dom/sub Undertones, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, Fluff and Smut, Love Confessions, M/M, Marathon Sex, Oral Sex, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Porn with Feelings, Romance, Rough Sex, Smut, They'll figure it out, Top Kabu, Walking In On Someone, basically you have two people with some insecurities, happy early birthday Caly!, the intimacy vibes in this fic are astronomical jfc, who might just be really really good for each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:22:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24993805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepizzasitter/pseuds/thepizzasitter
Summary: Kabu walked him to the door, and for a moment, it looked like he might say something, looking up at Piers, assessing his face. He couldn’t even begin to parse out what Kabu would find on it, too focused on getting back to the safety of his flat in Spikemuth where he could break down over how utterly stupid he felt right now for thinking he’d had a shot.“Travel safely,” he said instead, and Piers nodded, turning away and hoping the week would do him a favor in clearing out his feelings and letting him be able to just enjoy their friendship as it was.In the end, he lasted five days.
Relationships: Kabu/Nezu | Piers (Pokemon)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 106





	1. And This

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ogygianprincess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ogygianprincess/gifts).



> Alright! So this is a birthday fic for the beloved ogygianprincess! Features Kabu and Piers doing a bit of ships passing in the night before they manage to sort themselves out and find out how right they might actually be exactly what the other needs.
> 
> Song I listened to was [One and Only](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZMcE860DUo) by Adele. Enjoy!
> 
> Reminder to come hang out with me on Twitter! My main is ShyloRen and my Pokemon side account is CryptidPiers

He sighed and sipped his tea, letting the weight of the day slowly slide off his shoulders before he wrapped them up in the blanket near him instead.

He could fall asleep like this, under the warmth of the kotatsu. Had done so, more than once, but that was neither here nor there.

Laying his head on his arms, he looked towards the kitchen where Kabu was putting the finishing touches on their lunch, watching the way he moved through the space confidently, with care and ease and fuck but he _wanted_ —

A plate was set down in front of him, and he murmured his thanks, heart clenching in his chest when he realized Kabu had put a cup of juniper sauce to the side of it.

There was just no way he was alone in this, was there? Who did stuff like that for people they weren’t courting, putting their namesake into a bloody _sauce_ of all things?

_He has always been this thoughtful_ , he reminded himself firmly. _He does things like this all the time, they don’t have to mean anything, just fucking enjoy them and shut_ up _, for the love of—_

They ate in companionable silence, something Piers loved to exist in here. He lived for the noise and the roar of city and crowd—as did Kabu—but it was so good to be able to slip away to the tranquility that existed in the older man’s home.

He slowly, carefully moved his leg, until it just barely brushed against Kabu’s. He saw the other man pause, just a fleeting moment of hesitation, before he went back to eating.

And didn’t move his leg away.

Heat stirred low in Piers, and he fought to keep himself calm, to finish his food before he did anything rash.

He felt bold tonight, like he was on the edge of what he’d been craving since Kabu had first shown up to Marnie’s League welcome party with the most thoughtful gift for her.

He’d handed her a small box, and Piers had held his breath as she pulled out a stunning hair comb, the stones set in it glittering and beautiful. She had stared in awe, immediately turning to Piers so that he could fix it into her hair.

She hadn’t stopped smiling once throughout the party.

Piers had found himself watching Kabu through the rest of the evening, stunned and surprised by the gesture. His interactions with the gym leader to that point had been few and far between, but that had changed quickly after. Post matches found him asking Kabu if he’d like to grab a bite or get a drink. They were frequently in the company of their companions, but it didn’t matter. The more he found out, the more intrigued he became.

And now they had arrived here, more than a year later.

Kabu was chuckling at his story about one of his Zigzagoons getting stuck in a trash can and wailing like it was the end of days, convincing half the street that ghosts had finally managed to find their way into the city. The warmth of it wove its way through Piers’ veins, his laughter infectious.

He’d merely thought to get to know the man better at first, wanted to find out what kind of person gave so freely to someone not in his immediate care.

He hadn’t counted on Kabu himself, not in his entirety. The gym leader was simultaneously the most passionate and gentlest person Piers had possibly ever encountered. Capable of the kind of scorching battle that left the arena breathless, and then returning home to listen to music and groom his Pokémon for hours as a thank you for their hard work and devotion to him.

And this.

Things like these.

The small intimacies that were just between them. Kabu had learned as much about him, if not more, through their increasing proximity to each other. To the point where he had given Piers a key to his home, with a simple statement that he was always welcome there, even if Kabu happened to be out.

He knew how much Piers liked existing in that space, knew what it meant to have somewhere he could go to be away from everything else. The singer had just recently started making use of the key every so often.

It had been strange, the first time. Alone in someone else’s house, but then he’d found a box and a note on the kotatsu that had been dated back to the first day Kabu had given him the key.

_Make yourself at home. I always leave prepared meals on the second shelf of the refrigerator, and you are welcome to anything. Tea things are on the counter and in the top cupboard to the left of the sink. If you have need of anything for the next time, say so and I will do my best to obtain it for you._

Piers had lain under the kotatsu and clutched the note to his chest until he’d fallen asleep, pointedly avoiding thinking about how hard his heart thundered in his chest over the overwhelming care on such an innocuous piece of paper.

It had been awkward when he’d woken up, hours later, with Kabu in his chair by the telly, his glasses on and reading quietly until Piers scrambled to his feet and made a thousand excuses before he’d grabbed his jacket and fled back towards Spikemuth.

Somehow, the embarrassment hadn’t managed to keep him away.

_“That Spikemuth lad is here again.”_

_The women had clearly meant to keep their voices down, but he was a musician, and his hearing was keener than most._

_“Did you hear? He’s been seen in and out of Mr. Kabu’s house for over a month. They’ve been out in the shopping district as well, and dining together. They were just at the new winery last week!”_

_The other lady tsked and glanced at him, quickly averting her eyes when she realized he was looking her way._

_“I do hope Mr. Kabu knows what he’s doing,” she said in lower tones, her mouth set in disapproval. “We all get lonely now and again, but a man of his quality could do so much better than some lad desperate for a leg up in the world.”_

_He’d rolled his eyes and moved on, not wanting to stand around and hear any further speculation on whether or not he was putting out for a bit of cash._

_He’d put out for Kabu in a heartbeat and no mistake, but it was an entirely different type of connection he wanted, and it wasn’t a social one. He was doing just fine these days, even if old habits died hard and he didn’t think he’d ever get used to having anything resembling financial margin in his life._

“Long day?” The gym leader’s voice broke through the haze of memories and Piers glanced up to find the other looking at him with concern in his expression.

And neither of them had moved their legs yet.

“Somethin’ like that,” Piers replied, taking a deep breath before he pushed it a little closer, no way to mistake the contact for anything but deliberate.

An invitation.

_Say yes. Please say yes please say—_

Kabu pulled his own away and Piers immediately dropped his eyes to the table, feeling foolish.

Fair enough, then.

Shame, but he supposed it was for the best. Most posh types liked a bit of rough, but not for anything more than some fun, and that wasn’t what he wanted. Not with Kabu. But he had nothing else to offer, nothing the other didn’t already have.

So that would have to be that.

_Please_ , he told his heart firmly. _Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, yeah?_

“In that case, would you join me for some training in the morning? I thought I might take a run around Motostoke, but I know you find jogging distasteful. I could meet you at the gym after.” Kabu’s voice was careful, measured in a way that had Piers gripping his chopsticks just a little tighter.

Battling was a surefire way to get him relaxed enough to talk, and Kabu was sweet for offering.

Unfortunately, his problem was one that was better suited to a raging concert where he could lose himself in the music for a bit, go be with his friends with a bottle of something strong between them, and then go home to have a wank and wish that he was the kind of person Kabu would be pleased to have on his arm when they attended League functions or tried a new restaurant.

“M’not stayin’ over tonight,” he said, and hoped he kept the bitterness out of his voice. It wasn’t fair to foist his unwanted feelings on Kabu, nor to make him feel like he had to placate Piers over them. He would be alright, and at the end of the day their friendship would be enough for him. He just had to keep the rest of it firmly separated and far away from here.

“I see,” Kabu said, and the neutrality in his voice was nearly unbearable. “Then perhaps you might take some of the food back to Marnie for me? I made her some tea blends I think she will enjoy.”

And _absolutely fuck_ being able to take one second more of the way Kabu cared when his chest was hurting like this. He needed to get out of here right the fuck _now_.

“Sure, ‘course I will, she loves tryin’ new tea. Ta, bruv,” he said, everything on autopilot as he hurriedly worked his way through the rest of his meal, getting up and trying not to feel guilty over the way Kabu had paused mid bite to stare at him. Probably shocked at how rude it was to just get up in the middle of eating but he had no choice, he couldn’t stay, not when he felt like he was going to vibrate out of his skin.

And that was the problem anyways, wasn’t it? Manners and etiquette were made up rules in a society that valued its comfort and neat, tidy lines rather than the truth that people were messy at their core and in need of a little more freedom to be themselves. He was none of the social niceties that made Kabu the refined gentleman that he was, made him respected and beloved in Galar.

“Piers?” Fuck, but the hesitance was even worse. “Have I…done something to—”

“I’ll see you next week,” Piers said, grabbing his bag and holding his hand out for whatever food Kabu wanted him to take with him, pleading with his eyes for the other to let it go, to not say anything more. He didn’t think he could take it right now.

Kabu’s mouth closed in a grim line, and Piers tried to think about anything other than the disappointment in his expression.

He left his own lunch sitting there to go gather everything, the set of his shoulders radiating something like defeat, and Piers couldn’t stand it.

“Thank you for this,” he said, trying to diffuse the tension. “It was…good.”

_Right wordsmith you are, you absolute git. Gonna write that into a song, are you?_

Predictably, it didn’t do a damn thing towards easing the other’s posture out of its rigid perfection. He handed over the container without a word, his eyes somewhere over Piers’ shoulder, and the singer could have strangled himself.

Kabu walked him to the door, and for a moment, it looked like he might say something, looking up at Piers, assessing his face. He couldn’t even begin to parse out what Kabu would find on it, too focused on getting back to the safety of his flat in Spikemuth where he could break down over how utterly _stupid_ he felt right now for thinking he’d had a shot.

“Travel safely,” he said instead, and Piers nodded, turning away and hoping the week would do him a favor in clearing out his feelings and letting him be able to just enjoy their relationship as it was.

/////

In the end, he lasted five days.

Everything felt too loud by day four, but he’d pushed himself just a little more, reminded himself that he had lived nearly three decades without that kind of quiet before he had started hanging around Kabu. He’d be fine.

And then it had rained.

There was nothing special about it raining in Galar, not really. But Kabu always trained when it was raining, made his Pokémon uniquely able to withstand large amounts of water without it weakening them beyond fierce, direct attacks.

He found himself in front of Kabu’s door, umbrella in hand, and his collar turned up against the damp. This was ridiculous, _he_ was ridiculous, but now he was here and he might as well give up and go inside. Kabu would be out a while longer, he could gather himself in the meantime. He felt far less fragile then he had, and he missed Kabu’s steady presence more than anything. Marnie had been after him since she found him hovering in the living room, floating from sofa to desk to his studio, and back again.

_“You’re aimless,” she said. “Come sit and watch a film with me?”_

_He’d tried, but he couldn’t stay still. She’d finally gotten him to say what was eating him, and had raised a brow critically._

_“Since when have you ever cared what some snobs in their ivory towers thought?”_

_He sighed and took out a cigarette, playing with his lighter for a moment before letting her take both from him as was their ritual when he was most stressed._

_“Been a while since you even kind of craved a smoke. You are arse over tits, aren’t you?” She lit the cigarette and let the smoke rise into the air for a while, holding it away from herself. He let the familiar smell and look of it soothe him for a few moments before he nodded and she put it out on the ashtray with a little Wheezing pattern on it._

_He shot her a look for her language, knowing he didn’t have a leg to stand on._

_She was right though. “It’s less that I care what they think in general. Not any worse than we’ve heard before, at any rate. But I care what they think about_ him _. He doesn’t deserve to have his name raked over just because I can’t keep away.”_

_“Doesn’t sound like he cares one whit about that,” she said gently. “Mr. Kabu is a good sort, he knows a quality person when he sees one.”_

_Piers laughed and flicked her nose. “Quality. Have I told you lately you’re the best sister in the world?”_

_“I mean it, Piers,” she said, taking his hand and squeezing it. “You’re the best person I know, and I’m not sayin’ that cause you’re my brother. I’m sayin’ that because it’s true, and Mr. Kabu knows it. Things are changin’ anyhow, now that Rose is gone. Maybe it won’t be so long before people don’t even bother lookin’ twice when you’re out together.”_

They were definitely looking twice right now, with him standing at the door in the rain like a tit.

He hurriedly unlocked the door and went inside, breathing in deeply at how much better he already felt just being here.

He took off his shoes, putting on the house slippers Kabu had given him. Setting his things to the side, he thought about the gym leader coming in from the deluge soon, wet and tired from training, and let his feet carry him into the kitchen to put some tea on. He put in a takeout order for Kabu’s favorite bistro and did the dishes that were in the sink. Odd, it wasn’t like Kabu not to keep everything precise and tidy, but the task was soothing as he thought about how to best go about apologizing for the last time he was here.

He hummed under his breath, letting the simple, familiar cadence of setting out the tea things ease his nerves.

And then he heard a sound further in the house, straining his ears to listen. Was Torkoal home? Sometimes Kabu would leave her here if she was too tired for training in the rain.

He put the kettle down and went to go find the Pokémon.

He glanced into Kabu’s room, was poised to call for her when movement on the bed caught his eye and he—

Oh.

_Oh_.

Kabu was…

Very much _not_ out training.

Holy _shite._

He felt frozen, rooted to the spot as he watched Kabu’s spine arch against the mattress, hand working furiously over his cock and an arm thrown over his eyes. The clench of his teeth and the way he was being rough with himself had Piers immediately aching to put his hands on him, whether to soothe him back into something calmer or to take that roughness on himself, he didn’t know.

Fuck, but he looked regal, his body fit and covered in tattoos from a different, wilder youth he had hinted at more than once, and the kind of frame that Piers wanted to be under so badly, taking that thick, beautiful cock inch by inch until he was—

“Yes,” Kabu whispered, voice heated and low and Piers nearly whimpered from hearing the other sound like that. “ _Yes_ , right there—”

_Holy._

_Fucking._

_Arceus._

He needed to leave, wasn’t supposed to be seeing this, but he couldn’t make himself move.

The sound he made was strangled, inhuman, and he didn’t realize he’d made it until Kabu was suddenly throwing his arm to the side and sitting up like he’d been burned, eyes wide and startled and _on him_ in the doorway, mouth open in shock as they both stared at each other for a long moment.

“Piers?”

_Mind repeating that but in the voice I just heard a second ago?_ He thought hysterically.

“Fuck, m’sorry! I didn’t think you were home! It’s rainin’, been pourin’ for hours and you usually train when it—”

Kabu let out a shuddery breath and put his forehead against his knees, running a hand through his hair in agitation before he reached out to grab the sheet and wrap it around himself slowly. It jolted Piers out of his rambling, and he nearly reached out when he saw the other’s hands shake as he rubbed at his temples.

When he finally spoke, it just about tore Piers’ heart from his chest.

“I am…I am _so_ sorry,” he murmured. “I did not expect you to be here. I thought I was…” Kabu said quietly, like it physically pained him to do so. “I hardly know what to say.”

“Why are _you_ apologizin’?” Piers asked incredulously, the effect somewhat diminished by how breathless he was. “This is _your_ house.”

Kabu raised a brow and tilted his head. It was cautious, wary, a misery to it that Piers couldn’t stand.

“Given that you have a key, one might infer it is yours as well. I ought to have closed the door.”

“You didn’t know I would be comin’. It’s my fault that I…actually, you know what? Sod this, so what? I happened to walk in on you gettin’ your rocks off. Nothin’ I haven’t seen before, I’m pretty sure I’ve walked in on just about the entire League at some point or another. Hell, Leon and Raihan on the regular, those shameless gits.”

He pointedly didn’t add that walking in on them was a minor inconvenience at worst because he didn’t have the most pathetic crush of the century on them. And that was saying something, given that _Raihan_ existed and he and Leon had only recently managed to sort themselves out and finally start dating.

A ghost of a smile quirked Kabu’s lips.

“That is a…pragmatic way to look at it, I suppose. I fear I too have stumbled on their escapades more than once.”

He kept glancing towards the washroom, and Piers saw a robe hanging up outside it. He wandered over to get it and bit his lip when he passed it to Kabu and the other’s expression morphed into something surprised, something pleased.

“Thank you.”

Piers needed to step away. He was too close, far too close to reaching out, to tracing the lines on the other’s face, to asking what he might do in order for Kabu to consider wanting him.

Kabu was looking up at him with something unfathomable in his eyes, something that his mind wished more than anything it could interpret as being akin to what he was afraid was showing in his own.

Hadn’t his heart learned its lesson? What the hell had he stayed away for, then, if it was just going to betray him like this?

He needed to back up, to walk away.

Kabu’s fingers wrapped around his, and all thoughts of moving—of _breathing_ —vanished.

He stayed right where he was.


	2. Things Like These

Kabu reached out to take the robe slowly, feeling more unbalanced then he had in years. If there was one thing he had learned about Piers in the past year, it was that he effortlessly wreaked havoc on his sense of self, his hard-won peace, his discipline.

He hadn’t been able to focus long enough to train, had been all but useless during the time that Piers had been gone. Every night found him trying to appease the hunger pangs of his body that had nothing to do with food. Today had been no different. He had tried to go outside, but his view of the city had long been touched by Piers’ influence, his voice, his hands.

He hadn’t realized how fervently he’d been holding himself apart from Motostoke—even after all this time, still homesick and yearning for Hoenn—until he had seen how deeply connected Piers was to Spikemuth when they had gone there for Marnie’s welcome celebration. It had brought out a new appreciation and pride for his city as he watched Piers lead and dote on his own, even as he passed his gym into the care of his sister.

He had thought he might observe further when Piers had begun asking him to accompany the singer to lunch, or to tea with him and Marnie.

How foolish he had been, thinking he could keep his heart out of the mix.

“Everyone falls a little bit in love with him when they first _really_ meet him,” Milo had once said cheerily to a group of travelers when they asked about the various personalities of the gym leaders of Galar.

What he wished to know was how anyone had managed to _stop_.

He enjoyed the vibrancy and chaos that traveled where Piers went, had grown to love how easily it entwined with his own passions, the way he thought outside of tradition and convention and had a bond with his Pokémon that was among the strongest Kabu had ever seen. His loyalty, his devotion to his friends and his sister was a beautiful thing to see, giving everything of himself to the people he loved.

Unfortunately, the more time he spent with the former gym leader, the more apparent it became that the world had a particular penchant for taking from Piers.

Taking, taking, always taking, and inevitably looking the other way when he needed something in turn.

He slipped his arms into the robe and reminded himself, as he often had to, that whenever Piers came through the door, it was as a shadow.

Unsure of his welcome, tired and in need of care, of some tranquility and calm to recharge himself before he went back out to love a region that had clearly fallen so short of loving him back.

The last thing he needed was a man two decades his senior lusting after him and making him uncomfortable in a place that was meant to be one of safety.

He knew what was assumed of them, knew what it looked like when someone of Piers’ age and reputation was seen in the company of someone with his wealth and social status. Raihan had even shown him several articles questioning what their connection was, a worried frown on his face.

_“Just…tell me it’s not like that.”_

_“It isn’t,” he’d assured, and his heart had broken when Raihan’s expression had cleared into a relieved smile._

_“Okay…that’s…that’s good. He’s my best mate, you know? Loves everyone and everything no matter how prickly he acts. He deserves the world.”_

_“That he does,” Kabu had agreed quietly, the two of them lapsing into silence._

_Raihan had rubbed the back of his neck, looking thoughtful._

_“I mean, that’s not to say I don’t think you’d be good for him.”_

_His face must have done something complicated, because Raihan laughed and shrugged._

_“What? So long as it’s not like that, I think you two would be good together. He never shuts up about you at any rate. Don’t know how he put up with me whining about Leon for as long as he did, but I don’t have that kind of patience. And all I’m saying is that he could stand to get a few more hours of sleep.”_

_“What does that have to do with us potentially being—”_

_Raihan grinned._

_Kabu snorted and shook his head. “Shameless and incorrigible.”_

_Raihan preened like it was a compliment._

_“Just…think about it yeah? People tend to make assumptions with him. Think they know what he wants, but they don’t ask him. Everyone has a version of him in their heads, and it’s rarely the one that exists. But he doesn’t hide it, if you ask him. He’s the most honest of any of us.”_

That honesty was present on the other’s face as he looked up at the singer. His expression hid nothing, and right now it was…

He slowly raised his hand to take up Piers’ fingers in his own, hyper aware of the sharp intake of breath it elicited. He took courage in the thought of being permitted to show Piers the same level of care that Piers showed everyone else, if Raihan was right and this wasn’t just the lonely, one-sided hope he’d thought it was.

“Last week,” he asked slowly, “What did I do that upset you?”

Piers immediately looked away, posture folding further in on itself.

“You didn’t do anythin’,” Piers said. “That was…me needin’ to get over myself and doin’ a piss poor job at it.”

“Was it because I pulled away?” Kabu asked, suddenly realizing. The answer had been eluding him for days whenever he tried to put himself back into that moment, to find out where he had been too obvious, where he might have made Piers uncomfortable so that he wouldn’t do it again.

He had made assumptions. Piers had been reaching out, and he had dismissed them as advances because it hadn’t occurred to him that someone who could have anyone he desired would want _him_.

“I thought…” Piers started, voice unsteady, “I thought maybe it wasn’t just me. That maybe you’d been courtin’ me the way I thought you were.” He swallowed, finally looking at Kabu again.

“I liked it,” he whispered. “Felt nice. Felt…mutual. Like someone was willin’ to see me how I see them. Couldn’t help it, even though I know that’s just how you are as a person. So I…needed some time to get a grip.” He ran a hand through his hair, sighing tiredly. “Figured you’d understand, wouldn’t be bothered by some punk with a crush long as I kept it to myself.”

“Is that all it is?” Kabu asked, unable to quell the rising hope in his chest.

It seemed impossible, but the two of them had already surpassed some truly insurmountable odds in their lives.

If Piers loved him back…

The singer pulled his hand away, crossing his arms.

“Does it matter?” He asked cagily, shrugging. “I won’t bother you with it.”

“It matters immensely,” Kabu said firmly. He was certain now, and everything in him felt like it was engulfed in flames, no longer needing to be banked now that he knew this was permitted, that he was _welcome_ and allowed to want this. “Because if it is more, if your feelings match my own…”

Piers’ head whipped up to stare at him, lips parted on a breath he didn’t take.

“Then you should know that I _have_ been courting you, though I thought nothing would come of it, that you wouldn’t even notice. And that when you walked into the room a moment ago…”

He took a calming breath and set his shoulders, a challenge in them, an invitation of his own that he hoped Piers might answer.

“It was you I was thinking of.”

/////

Everything felt overheated, and Piers couldn’t get enough.

He keened quietly as Kabu slid back into him, burying his face into the pillow and reaching a hand back to grip at his thigh.

“How have you not come yet?” He moaned when Kabu stroked his hair, tugging a bit to let him know he wanted to see his face. He turned it to the side, looking at the other dazedly. The older man was leaning over him, his body slick with sweat and mesmerizing in the low light. His smile was gentle, as were his hands when he ran them over Piers’ back, making the singer shiver and spread his legs wider.

“Patience and discipline,” Kabu said, a mock-sage tone in his voice and a stoic look that had Piers laughing breathlessly and throwing a smirk over his shoulder.

“Try again, old man,” he teased, and the gym leader chuckled and tangled their fingers together. Piers couldn’t help the hitched sound that escaped him when Kabu started thrusting slowly into him. His skin felt like a live wire. The way Kabu filled him so perfectly had him hard and wanting though he’d already come once from the other’s mouth and again an hour later on his cock.

“It takes me a little longer these days,” Kabu said, voice low and just this side of wistful. “I cannot apologize for things beyond my control.”

“Don’t want you to,” Piers said, tilting his head to the side so Kabu could kiss his neck, leave marks all over it that Piers would press his fingers against in the morning. “Positive problems as far as I’m concerned.”

Kabu leaned down to cover his body with his own, and _Arceus_ he was not going to last.

“Ah—that feels so good,” he whimpered, cock dripping against the sheets when Kabu used his hold to fuck into him deeper. “M’not gonna break if you wanna get rough with me. I have…preferences.”

“I’m listening,” Kabu said and Piers grinned into the pillow at the hint of a growl below the words, something hungry in the gym leader’s tone.

“Want you to use me,” he said, loving the way it made the other’s pace falter for a moment. “Want you to forget anythin’ but your own pleasure. I might come, might not, doesn’t matter, just keep goin’. I’ve had mine, want you to take yours.”

He felt Kabu’s mouth run along the top of his spine, his entire body trembling with how badly he needed this, how much he wanted Kabu’s body taking his for all it was worth.

“I want that as well. On the condition that afterwards we do things my way.”

Afterwards? Cleanup, sleep off the inevitable soreness?

“Whatever you want,” he agreed, distracted when Kabu pulled out to turn him over and gather him onto his lap, biting his lip when he sank back down onto the other’s length. He ran his hands through soft grey hair, pressed up close to him and braced himself when he felt hands at his waist.

“C’mon, love,” he whispered. “Do your worst.”

Famous last words, he supposed.

It was one thing to know, abstractly, that Kabu was strong. It was another thing entirely finding out exactly _how_ strong he was.

He could do nothing but hold on for dear life as the other took him apart piece by piece, split him open and drove into him over and over and over again. He clung to Kabu’s shoulders, his cries muffled by heated skin and the heavy, slick sounds of a cock inside him.

He let the other move him however he wanted, kept his face close to Kabu’s neck, breathing in the scent of him and living for the frenzied rhythm of it. This was what he craved, those moments in which Kabu would abandon himself to how deeply he felt things, how fiercely and attentively he loved.

“Yours,” he murmured over the pulse beating wildly against his cheek, eyes squeezed shut when Kabu wrapped his arms tightly around him and thrust hard enough into him that he screamed.

“Oh fuck,” he breathed, and Kabu made a strangled sound of agreement, pressing his face against the comfort of Piers’ hair. He ground up into the singer, a relentless assault on his prostate that had him damn near wailing. He’d have been embarrassed if it didn’t feel _so fucking good_ , the pressure spiraling up and up and up and up until he was thrown over the edge, coming hard enough that little spots of darkness danced along the edges of his vision.

He spilled untouched and messy between them, desperately gulping in air and trying not to pass out when the other kept going. His body was lax and sated, the pain of overstimulation exquisite under his skin as Kabu took and took and took and for once, it didn’t actually feel like anything was being taken at all.

Kabu caught his face up in his hands, his eyes on Piers like he was something precious, something worth keeping, and Piers had never felt quite so _seen_.

He leaned his forehead against Kabu’s, their mouths brushing as the other thrust once, twice more before following him over the edge, buried deep in him with his name laced through what little space existed between them.

And everything felt so, so quiet.

He didn’t know how long they stayed like that, only that by the time he had stopped shaking from the aftershocks, Kabu had wrapped the blanket around them both, his hands soothing and warm as they squeezed and kneaded at the nape of his neck, along the tenseness he always carried in his back.

He eventually pushed Piers down to lie against the pillows before kissing his palm.

His eyes traveled over the singer as Piers watched him in turn.

“I will return in a moment,” Kabu said softly, and when he got up and rolled his shoulders, a content and satisfied smile on his face, Piers may or may not have fallen in love all over again.

When he came back, it was with a small basin and a towel, and Piers immediately sat up.

Oh…oh he was…

“You agreed you would allow me to care for you when we were finished,” Kabu reminded him, and he flopped back down, throwing an arm over his eyes.

“Didn’t know this is what you meant,” he grumbled. “You can just hand me a towel and call it a day, you know.”

“I do know, yes.” Kabu wet the cloth and started to run it gently over his stomach, cleaning him off while he watched from under the safety of his arm, feeling the heat on his face and ears. For fuck’s sake, he’d just had this man inside him, what was he getting worked up over a bit of aftercare for?

“But I would like to do this for you…would be pleased if you might let me care for you in this way.”

Piers swallowed, breathing out slowly.

“Alright,” he whispered. “Might fight you on it for a bit every now and again, fair warnin’.”

Kabu leaned over to kiss him, setting the cloth and basin to the side so that he could deepen it, entwining their fingers once more.

“If you must,” he said, a small smile on his face when they broke off for air. He returned to his task, eventually tending to himself as well before he rejoined Piers on the bed, pulling the sheet over the both of them.

“Get a cuddle, do I?” Piers asked with a grin, scooting in close and putting his hand to Kabu’s cheek for another kiss. “Now _that_ , I will never fight you on.”

Kabu laughed, wrapping his arms around him and running a hand through his hair, both of them basking in the feeling of skin against skin.

“I am beginning to wonder how it is you have the reputation that you do.”

“Don’t you go grassin’ on me,” Piers scolded, tracing his fingers along one of the tattoos on the gym leader’s chest. “Worked hard for that rep.”

“Very well, your reputation will remain safe with me,” Kabu said solemnly, closing his eyes with a smile.

It was just banter, just an aside that mattered little in the grand scheme of things, but Piers’ heart squeezed in his chest, knowing it was true nonetheless.

_I know I am_ , he thought, and it felt better than anything in the world. _Nowhere safer._

“Sleep, beloved one,” Kabu murmured, and Piers drifted off with Kabu’s warmth at his back and an endearment playing on repeat in his head.


End file.
